Album Rating: 3.5

and that's par for the course, and the common trait between his three "5" records (as well as side two of Brilliant Trees, but that's closer to a 4 than a 5 at this point)



Secrets - flirts with it, but has glimmers of hope

Blemish - no hope, no love, only a brief reprieve is offered at the conclusion and even then, it's a bleak outlook

Manafon - it's already over, the man is lost and has no way of getting back. it's the farthest place he's ever been

imo Beehive is considerably more warm and hopeful than either of those, especially musically. It's not a hopeless and devastating record or anything.

Album Rating: 3.5

what we can agree on is that those last two albums should have ~higher avs~

I get what you're saying and agree at least partially with your points. If anything I think Gone to Earth and Dead Bees should be a couple decimals higher.

Album Rating: 3.5

a 4 and 4.1 going on 4.2 is just fine for those, considering both of them are incredibly bloated (and personally, Dead Bees should be the lowest of all of his records since it's his weakest imo)

Album Rating: 3.5

Although when I heard Manafon, I'm sure it was at a 3.4 or something. Sylvian's the type of guy that ought to have his records no lower than a 3.7 honestly.

Dead Bees and Gone to Earth have 4+ averages so I'm not complaining. I think Manafon being at 3.6 is pretty impressive for such an experimental, out-there album, and with how much of a departure it is from his classics. Same with Blemish being at 3.9.

Album Rating: 3.5

Blemish is on the fringe of a 4 since it was there for a few weeks, but aside from Beehive, his records all have less than 100 ratings so I don't take it as seriously. However, some of the ratings on the last two and the complaints that come with them are a bit heavy-handed for records that are experimental, but not exactly that "out-there" for his standards when you take into account the people he works with.

Album Rating: 3.5

Should add rym's opinion of them are steadily improving, since Manafon's rating is somewhere around 3.21 when it used to be a bit lower not too long ago.

Blemish and Manafon are pretty significant departures from all his previous stuff, which only occasionally sounded maybe a bit like them once in a while.

Album Rating: 3.5

One thing I don't get is the obsession with him needing to retread old waters when it's been made clear that is not an option. Nine Horses is an anomaly from his newer output although it bears little resemblance to the older stuff once you pay more attention to it.

Not sure if you're saying I'm one of those people or not, but when I finished his whole discography a while back I understood that he was one to progress his sound, it just took me a while to appreciate and understand Blemish and Manafon. I always thought those two new songs he released in 2013 was a promising new direction for the future, if he feels like making another solo record in that style that isn't so difficult to get into.

Album Rating: 3.5

Not exactly, I just noticed it's a trend among his fanbase - that he's lost the plot, he's sick, or he needs to make another record like [insert album here]. I'd imagine at this point, there'd be an understanding that isn't what he does and he has no desire to look back at the past in that kind of way, just like Scott Walker and Tom Waits does.



Had the demoes he posted on soundcloud didn't get taken down, I would've shared them with you. Jacqueline is the only one I have, but there were two other songs I believe that were recorded in 2012 during aborted sessions.

Album Rating: 3.5

A prediction, however: expect something before the end of the decade. It'll be in the same fashion as Dead Bees; it took him eight years to record Dead Bees and he took several hiatuses in the interim, not counting the Fripp collaboration.

Oh I didn't know there were demoes of other songs. More like Dead Bees would be great.

Album Rating: 3.5

not like the sound of that record, I meant as in how long it took for him to get it done



eight years to complete, on top of the twelve years between it and Secrets. This current wait is nothing in comparison and we have just as much side material to keep us busy, if not more, than fans did during that timespan.

Album Rating: 3.5

Although, I should look for the other demo cuts and send them to you. Jacqueline is great, and from my understanding, the demos are acoustic just like Jacqueline. (Another reason to follow his facebook, man)



Also, just noticed in my search for the aforementioned demoes, he has said he is open to doing a vinyl pressing for Nine Horses and other albums should the opportunity present itself. The future, indeed, does look bright for Sylvian fans.

I follow his Twitter but it's all social justice posts, and I could've sworn I followed his Facebook, but I just checked and haven't even liked his Facebook page yet, no idea how that happened.

Album Rating: 3.5

his Twitter, from my understanding, is more along the lines of art/political stuff and mentioned so when he briefly had it on his facebook. It's more of a personal account than a music-based one, so his Twitter being so on-the-nose isn't surprising.

That makes sense. Well at least now I'll see everything from him.